Is your Scrum team struggling with questions about who owns quality? Is testing way behind development? Are team members claiming no time for retrospective because they’re focused on delivery? They might be victims of what some call Scrummerfall, or Mini Waterfall. Let’s use our fictional World’s Smallest Online Bookstore (WSOBS) Scrum team to explore what […]
Scrum By Example
Scrum by Example – Product Backlog Refinement in Action
In Scrum, Product Backlog Refinement is an essential meeting of the Product Owner and the Development Team to gain clarity and a shared understanding of what needs to be done through discussion and sharing of ideas. The following is a guide example of how to run an effective Product Backlog Refinement meeting. We know that many people learn […]
Scrum by Example – Team Friction Inspires Working Agreements
Scrum team Working Agreements are a simple, powerful way of creating explicit guidelines for what kind of work culture you want for your Team. They are a reminder for everyone about how they can commit to respectful behaviour and communication. In this post we’ll see how the fictional World’s Smallest Online Bookstore (WSOBS) Scrum team struggles […]
Scrum by Example – Same Old Song in Sprint Retrospective
The World’s Smallest Online Bookstore team has just come out of their Sprint Review. For those who’re keeping score, the team committed to a Sprint Goal: Have basic reader review system in place so book buyers can see a variety of opinions about a book. Their plan included completing seven Product Backlog Items and fixing […]
Scrum by Example – Don’t Let Sprint Review be a Missed Opportunity
When last we left our World’s Smallest Online Bookstore team, their Sprint was rocky. To have an effective Sprint Review story, let’s assume that they magically wound back the clock (shazam!) and implemented the changes. As a result, they had the more effective Sprint Planning that we discussed in the last blog post. So let’s […]
Scrum by Example – How Sprint Planning Mistakes Can Derail a Team
Sprint Planning is the most underappreciated Agile event. Unfortunately, that leads to a whole host of errors and problems, as we will soon see. The ScrumGuide says: “Sprint Planning initiates the Sprint by laying out the work to be performed for the Sprint. This resulting plan is created by the collaborative work of the entire […]
Scrum by Example – How to Handle Production Support Issues in Scrum
Whenever you are building and deploying a complex system, there are always going to be bugs, defects, and unforeseen problems with usability — commonly referred to as Production Support issues. Today, our ScrumMaster and their Team grapple with these issues, to help you understand how they affect a Scrum Team and what you can do […]
Scrum by Example – The Story of an Incomplete Sprint
A Scrum Sprint is incomplete when the Team can’t deliver the working features they committed to. We cover the reasons for this and how you can help your Team. Dramatis Personae Steve – a ScrumMaster and the hero of our story Paula – the Product Owner of Steve’s Team Tonia – the Team’s Quality Assurance […]